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Articles: Welding & Brazing How-to

Improve Your Welding & Brazing Skills—Right Here!

Automotive and motorcycle work can involve swapping engines, installing lift kits, building roll cages and tire carriers, restoring vintage Willys frames or repairing the broken and fatigued chassis of a Jeep CJ or Wrangler. To do this properly requires a knowledge of metals, especially their tensile strength, metallurgy and chemistry. Filler rod or wire must match the base metals; aluminum requires special TIG (GTAW) welding; and each carbon steel has its preferred welding method.

This section of the magazine offers in-depth welding and brazing tutorial and how-to articles. Topics include learning to weld and braze, metallurgy and safe use of welding equipment. Learn to weld properly and fabricate metal safely. *Click on the “Site Content Directory” button for the entire roster of articles and HD Video how-to! Click here for the 4WD Tech How-to Video Channel playlist, which includes in depth HD video coverage of welding processes! Moses Ludel has welded professionally and instructed welding processes and metals fabricating. Improve your skills at gas welding and brazing, ‘stick’ SMAW welding, MIG/GMAW wire feed and spool welding plus the art of TIG/GTAW welding. Professionalize your welding skills and make better Jeep modifications and repairs. There is much more to welding than ‘running a bead’ on metal! Learn about steel alloys, heat treating, case hardening, metallurgy, casting repairs and choosing the best materials for your project.Table of Contents for Welding and Brazing Processes

Metal CuttingFabricating with metal always involves cutting. Plasma cutting, oxygen-acetylene, bandsaw or hole saw cutting is all part of metal fabrication. Learn the various options for preparing and fitting metal pieces for welding and how to avoid damaging sensitive heat treating and case hardening.Metal-Cutting.html

MIG WeldingMIG or ‘GMAW’ is today the most popular welding process for fabrication and industrial use. Many 4×4 shops and Jeep 4WD enthusiasts have a wire-feed MIG machine. While MIG is fast, “forgiving” and quick to learn, there are many ways to improve your MIG welding skills. Learn when and how to use MIG process.MIG-Welding.html

Metallurgy & Heat TreatingWelding properly and getting safe, strong results require an understanding of metals and processes. This includes heat treating, annealing, normalizing and case hardening. You need to know how heat affects metals. Choosing the right filler materials or welding and brazing process depends on metallurgy, not guesswork or opinions.Metallurgy-&-Heat-Treating.html

Welding & Cutting EquipmentA weldor is only as good as the welding equipment—and vice versa!…Moses Ludel introduces Jeep 4WD enthusiasts and 4×4 shop owners to quality, cost-effective welding and cutting equipment. Perform safe Jeep maintenance, restoration, upgrades and modifications. Learn which tools and welding equipment will prove most useful and cost-effective over time!Welding-&-Cutting-Equipment.html

If you repair, modify or upgrade Jeep 4WD vehicles or four-wheel drive components, welding is a vital skill. This section of 4WD Mechanix Magazine focuses on welding, brazing and safe metal handling practices.Safe, reliable fabrication work requires the right metal, the right filler material and the right welding methods.

I have welded for over four decades and instructed vocational adult welding for six years. Today, I approach the fusion welding processes, brazing and spray welding techniques with a deep respect for metallurgy and a clear understanding of the best practices for joining and repairing metals.

—Moses Ludel

Welding requires hand-to-eye coordination and the mastery of welding principles. Brazing and silver brazing are much different than fusion welding; often, one process will work better than the other. The base metal has certain chemical and tensile properties, and welding must respect these properties. If not, the end result will be a weaker, failure-prone finished product.

For that reason, the welding and fabrication section at the 4WD Mechanix Magazine website includes welding methods and an ongoing discussion about metals and structural design. Learn how I make crack-free cast iron weld repairs, build strong motor mounts, construct roll bars and create frame brackets. Metallurgy is a regular topic, including heat treating processes, case hardening, annealing and restoring tensile strength and hardness.

If you can benefit from stick (SMAW), MIG (GMAW) or TIG (GTAW) welding, brazing, silver brazing or plasma cutting, this section provides the how-to articles, step-by-step welding videos and slide presentations to improve your welding and brazing skills. Aluminum welding, silver brazing, working with case hardened metals and welding mild and low-alloy carbon steel—each requires the right process, the right technique and the right filler materials.

I enjoy welding and sharing the various processes! Once past the basics, you will discover the creativity and problem-solving benefits of welding and brazing. In addition to my HD videos and articles covering gas, stick, TIG and MIG welding, we’ll explore newer niche processes like metal spray welding and advanced TIG techniques.